Living small

EPHRATA — Revised regulations for building accessory dwelling units in the unincorporated areas of Grant County are available for review and comment through Jan. 20. 

Jim Anderson-Cook, Development Services deputy director, said the revisions were designed to address some problems residents had experienced when trying to build an ADU, and to clarify the process. 

The new rules allow up to two ADUs on a property, but how they can be built depends on the location. People living in an ADU must be permanent residents, and they can’t be rented for less than 30 days. A place that’s rented for less than 30 days is called a short-term rental and is handled under a different ordinance. 

Property within the urban growth boundary of a city can have an ADU that’s part of an existing house and one that’s separate, two that are part of an existing house, or two that are separate. Property that’s not within the UGB can have one that’s part of an existing dwelling and one separate structure, or have one separate building. 

“Structures shall be subject to all applicable building and construction provisions of the (Grant County code). Manufactured homes, tiny homes, park model RVs and other factory-assembled structures are allowed to be used as accessory dwelling units,” according to the ordinance. 

People will be allowed to convert existing structures, such as a detached garage, into an ADU. The conversion would have to meet all building code requirements except in the case of some non-conforming uses, such as street setbacks or lot coverage, that were allowed when the structure was originally built. 

All ADUs must conform to the existing building code, Anderson-Cook said.

“It would be about the same review as if you were building a brand new house,” he said. 

Parking requirements will depend on the location of the ADU. Lots smaller than 6,000 square feet must have one off-street parking space. Two parking spots are required for properties bigger than 6,000 square feet with two ADUs. 

The previous ordinance allowed for one ADU on a property, but the people living in it had to be related to the property owner, which the property owner had to prove. In addition, the ADU had to be torn down once the family member moved out. Those restrictions have been removed in the revisions. 

“That’s not really something we wanted to monitor and police,” Anderson-Cook said. 

The ordinance also allowed for what it called guest houses, but a guest house couldn’t be used as a permanent dwelling and couldn’t have a kitchen. The guest house section has been taken out of the ordinance.

Anderson-Cook said the changes follow revisions in housing rules passed by the Washington Legislature. Legislators wanted to make it easier to address the state’s lack of housing, he said, and revised ADU rules were considered to be one way to do that. 

There were various proposals in the legislature, he said, and county officials wrote some draft rules in anticipation of the changes.

“We guessed right,” Anderson-Cook said. “We were ready. (The revised ordinance) cleared the way and is consistent with the state statute to promote affordable housing.” 

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.